Latest

Pollution levels are rising every day and maneuvering through my city traffic with windows rolled down in the morning rush is like negotiating a metro sewer without a gas mask. Smoke, in all colors and smells enter my car, so strong that attempts by several car perfume manufacturers went futile.

This innovation-

Kanishk Sinha, 30, and his wife Lipika, 25, have been the brains behind the Jasper engine

An engine that doesn't use petrolium fuel or batteries to produce power

Does not give rise to any of the harmful emissions that a petrol or diesel engine would

What we have here is a totally environment-friendly engine that can be used for several application. It's called the Jasper Engine.

The energy output of the engine is due to a chemical reaction between Zinc and Oxygen. That's right- Zinc and Oxygen combine to give energy in the Jasper engine just like how gasoline and air would combine to produce heat energy.

Further details on how the chemical reaction takes place, the apparatus, the procedure or how much zinc is needed remain a mystery and we wait for an explanation about the entire process very soon.

With the help of US$ 1 billion, which they raised from non-resident Indians, the couple have established and registered a company in USA five years ago. The patent for the Jasper engine has been done in conjunction with BigPatents India, a body supported by the Ford Foundation.

Apart from finding its duty in Water pumps, for which it was evaluated and tested, the engine is also capable of powering three wheelers and cars. 'A water pump can run for five years without any interruption on this engine and a four-wheeler car can run 450,000 km,' said Sinha, a native of Bihar. 'This technology also increases the durability of the engine,' he added.

All Jasper engines are manufactured in Washington and shipped to India as a manufacturing facilty is yet to be set up in India. 'We source all our engines from the US,' Sinha said, but added he was looking for land in Bihar and West Bengal to set up a manufacturing unit in India.

Currently, Jasper has set up a 28-dealer network in Rajasthan, Bihar and New Delhi, and plans to add 15 more dealers in the next few months. It has begun testing waters in West Bengal and Assam.

The company presently fabricates 15,000 engines a month, and one might think this number will increase drastically given its specifications. But no, Sinha feels this is the right time to get the word out on his innovation, rather than investing money to ramp up production. 'We will be focusing more on marketing now,' he said. As part of the strategy to promote sales, the company will not tinker with the Rs.35,000 price tag.

Part of the plan is fitting this engine into auto-rickshaws.

IAB Comment- Sounds very interesting. When he says 'This technology also increases the durability of the engine,' does he refer to the Internal Combustion Engine? We'll keep a close eye on the developments of this story. Stay tuned to IAB, until then.